


Together

by rakugaki (tieria)



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ficlet, Greed lives, Multi, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 07:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10354881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tieria/pseuds/rakugaki
Summary: A flash of a world that could have been, after the Promised Day.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Pre- ot3. A snippet of a much, much longer work I won't write.

They had returned to Xing near a month ago, and yet, Lan Fan thought, closing her eyes and breathing deep the soft dew of the evening air, the reality of _home_ had only just begun to settle. Between the excitement of the Emperor’s retirement and the triumphant anticipation of Ling’s impending coronation, Lan Fan felt she’d barely had the time to rest her limbs. But such was the path she was proud to take-

“Lan Fan!,” came a voice, dropping down from the palace overhang to the garden with a soft thump and a great swish of fabric, “Found you! Dinner’s been ready for ten minutes, you know!”

And such was the master she was proud to serve.

Lan Fan sighed, opened her eyes. “You didn’t have to come fetch me. I was on my way now.”

Ling pouted, pointedly looked away. Though she resisted the instinct to smile, one pulled discreetly at the corners of her lips regardless.

“But you were late,” he said. Lan Fan had barely opened her mouth to reply, sarcastic but warm-hearted, when the words ran cold, caught in her throat.

_“You-“_ she forced out, tensed and ready to spring, to push Ling aside, kunai already in hand- but all was drowned out by the great clash of metal against shield, the assassin’s kunai tearing through the elegant black and gold of Ling’s robes only to bounce harmlessly off his protected arm.

“Hey, hey,” he said, locking eyes with the assassin who had foolishly emerged from behind the flowering bushes, “I’m not big on all this traditional shit, but I actually _liked_ these.”

With scarcely a warming he – _they_ \- were off, chasing the would-be assassin through the winding gardens with Ling’s light steps, weaving delicately between the hydrangeas and peonies, barely a petal disturbed despite the intensity of Greed’s strikes. It was fluid where it should have been disjointed, an easy harmony where there should have been discord.

It was, Lan Fan reflected for the briefest of moments as she leapt into the fray, getting harder and harder to tell one from the other since Amestris’ Promised Day.

:::

This is what they told no one.

Together they faced down Father, hand in figurative hand- eight thousand in number, then one thousand fifty—six, then three hundred then two, pressed together with a frantic sort of confidence in the face of the hurricane.

Greed tried to throw him back, cast him off into his own body- _where you belong, dumbass prince-_ but Ling only clutched tighter, hooks tethered into his soul. Greed tried again, no longer able to resist Father’s pull and no longer willing to, not if he wanted his reckless plan to succeed- _I’m not leaving another person I care about behind_ , Ling replied, and images flashed between them, memories now shared. _FuBidoRoaBolcettoUlchiMartel-_

“ _Damn it_ ,” Greed swore, and together they went.

Ling had long since grown used to the maelstrom of souls that inhabited his body, had long since learned how to filter out their cries, their hopeless pleas and platitudes. He sat waiting in the eye of the storm, and knew that this was an atrocity never to be repeated.

But that had been nothing compared to the millions that flooded his senses now, pleading and praying and begging for everything that Ling could not give them. “ _Greed_ ,” he mumbled, the thought barely formed before Greed pulled his soul closer and what passed for the shield in these metaphysical bodies enveloped them both. Immediately, the cries dulled.

Time slipped into a strange non-factor as they travelled towards the heart, towards Father, towards what may very well be their end. Neither of them moved to pull away.

Ling didn’t remember the start of their conversation with Father, nor the moment Greed set his plan into motion. He suspected that it was a memory Greed had locked away from him intentionally, one of the few made during their co-habitation that they still kept from each other.

What Ling did remember was the moment that Greed tried to fade away with the rest of the souls, vanishing finally into peaceful oblivion.

“ _I’m his avarice,_ ” Greed had explained, had begged Ling to understand. This was cleaner, easier. The homunculi would all disappear on the Promised Day, and the world would be rid of the atrocities that had haunted the ruins of Xerxes, painted blood onto the streets of Amestris. _I’m going to disappear here,_ he thought as he created his desperate plan, _this is the way the story’s supposed to go_.

But Ling was never supposed to be in his swan song, and Ling flashed him an arrogant smile, held out a hand and said- “ _No. You’re_ mine.”

And with three words, that had settled that.

:::

The assassin was yet inexperienced, and Lan Fan drove him into a corner easily. Greed moved quickly to pin his back to the brick outer wall, arm across his throat. Lan Fan moved quickly to his side.

“So,” said Greed, “who’s the unlucky loser?” He pulled the assassin’s mask from his face, and Lan Fan flinched in recognition. The assassin before her was no more than a boy of twelve, with panic surging over eyes set hard with resolve.

“Monster,” the boy spat, and Greed flinched, looking uncharacteristically hurt.

“Hey, it’s not nice to call people you haven’t seen in years monsters, Liu,” Ling replied, leaving Liu struggling to find his words and Lan Fan wondering just how long Ling had been himself.

The young assassin struggled against the arm at his throat, and Ling pulled back, opting to grab the heir to the Liu clan by the wrist instead. Liu gasped for breath, staring up at Ling with open hostility. “But that’s what they made you in the west. A two-souled monster.”

Lan Fan’s hands were clenched into fists before she consciously realized her nails were digging crescent moons into her palm. _‘He is far from a monster,_ ’ she wanted to say, as she had said so many times before, but it was not her place, not here.

“Let me tell you something, Liu,” came the reply, “I’m greedy. I went to Amestris and gained this power because I wanted my clan to rule Xing. And that’s exactly what I’m getting.”

He paused, and smiled at Lan Fan for just a moment, more Greed than Ling but genuine all the same. “But I learned something in Amestris, too. You heard what Chang was saying. There’s no point in me winning all this power if I can’t protect everyone in Xing.”

“You’re lying,” Liu said, looking unsure.

Greed just snorted, and Liu looked at him, startled. “Nah, kid. I’m not lying. This is more of a chance than I thought I was ever going to get. Lan Fan over there’s going to make sure we do this right.”

Contradictory emotions washed over her, equal parts affronted and touched. Affronted, if only because she’d already lost track of how many times she’d told Greed to keep some semblance of professionalism around other members of the court, to no avail- but touched, in a grudgingly appreciative way, that Greed had finally voiced real trust in her.

“You’re… not lying,” Liu said, apprehensive but trusting, and Greed dropped his wrist entirely.

“Nope. Once I’m officially Emperor, I’m putting an end to this clan power struggle. No more assassination attempts on rival heirs, no more weak families living in poverty. We’re all going to eat at the same table and-“

He paused. “Which reminds me. I’m starving, and dinner’s been ready for at _least_ twenty minutes. Lan Fan, Liu. We’ll finish this conversation over dinner!”

And with that, Ling made for the palace, leaving his bodyguard and would-be killer staring after his back, the gold dragon detailed on his back seeming to glow in the light of the setting sun.

“Shall we go?” Lan Fan said, and Liu nodded, hurried after Ling. All traces of his earlier hesitation were gone, washed away completely by the honesty Ling and Greed had displayed. As the tension drained from her body, Lan Fan’s heart skipped a quick beat, the way it sometimes did around Ling.

“How troublesome,” she muttered, but smiled despite herself.


End file.
